Bishop Finn Found Guilty of Failure to Report Suspected Child Sex Abuse
Frank Cocozzelli printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 09:30:46 AM EST
On Thursday, September 6th, Robert Finn, the bishop who heads the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri was convicted by a Jackson County court of one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse.

There is no word yet on whether Bishop Finn will be deemed fit to continue to lead the Catholic Church in Kansas City.

Bishop Finn's conviction stems from the  prosecution of Fr. Shawn Ratigan who has since pleaded guilty in Federal Court to four counts of producing child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.

As I reported here and here, Bishop Finn had constructive knowledge of Ratigan's improper touching of young girls and possession of child pornography.

The National Catholic Reporter broke down the conviction as follows:

Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge John Torrence gave Finn a two-year suspended sentence of probation with nine conditions, including mandating direct reporting of future suspicions of child abuse to prosecutors.

Prosecutors had separated the charges against Finn and the diocese into two timeframes: Dec. 16, 2010, to Feb. 10, 2011; and Feb. 11, 2011, to May 18, 2011.

Handing down his verdict less than an hour after the trial started, Torrence said he did not have enough evidence to convict Finn during the first timeframe, but evidence "exceeds that which would be necessary" to prove that the bishop "knowingly failed to report" possible abuse during the second.

On that charge, Torrence continued, "the defendant is guilty."

Following Finn's verdict, prosecutors asked Torrence to dismiss the charges against the diocese. While the prosecutors' motion effectively means the charges have been dropped, Torrence said he would not be able to enter a judgment on the matter until Friday morning.

Finn avoided similar charges in nearby Clay County, Missouri by agreeing to government oversight of all pedophilia investigations for the next five years.

The Questions Now Raised

Throughout the proceedings the controversial Opus Dei prelate and Father Ratigan have been receiving legal help from the ultra-conservative, Opus Bono Sacerdotii (OBS), an organization with strong ties to Opus Dei member Thomas Monaghan, William Donohue and several prominent Catholic neocons.

As I have previously noted this conviction could remove a high-profile social conservative voice in a Mid-Western bastion of liberal thought. Will Finn, the first U.S. Catholic bishop presiding over a diocese convicted of a crime, be removed from office?  If so, will he also be defrocked?

And what of Cardinal Dolan, Bill Donohue and their band of Catholic Right culture warriors who used this case to discourage transparency and accountability waging a scorched earth strategy against SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests as well as against the victimized children?  Will they be disciplined by the Vatican for their behavior?

Incredibly -- but not surprisingly -- Donohue and the Catholic League have taken a defiant tone, one that resorts to a despicable distortion of the facts. Here is a sample from Donohue's September 7, 2012 press release:

Let's get rid of some myths. Bishop Finn was not found guilty of a felony: he was found guilty of one misdemeanor, and innocent of another. The case did not involve child sexual abuse-no child was ever abused, or touched, in any way by Father Shawn Ratigan. Nor did this case involve child pornography.

The only one spinning "myths" here is Donohue. While Donohue is correct that Finn was found guilty of a misdemeanor instead of a felony is of little consequence. Either way Finn's criminality is only a matter of degree.  To attempt to diminish the harm Ratigan had on the children and their families is outrageous. And then to claim, "no child was ever abused" is false, and suggests that Donohue's sympathies are entirely with the perpetrator and enabler of these crimes against children and that he has also forgotten the profound betrayal of their responsibilities as priests.

Donohue then shifts from his sympathy for the pedophiles to a preposterous condemnation of the prosecution of these crimes.

The Catholic League supports harsh penalties for child sexual abusers, and for those who cover it up. But it also supports equal justice for all, and given what we know of what is going on in many other communities, religious as well as secular, we find the chorus of condemnations targeting Bishop Finn to be as unfair as they are contrived.

Children's private parts were targeted in Ratigan's photographs and Donohue claims that Bishop Finn is the victim? Such a declaration cries out for the Church to censure this contemptible man who claims to speak for American Catholics. To understand just how off-base Donohue's defense is, consider this description of Ratigan's behavior by The New York Times:

In May 2010, the principal of the Catholic elementary school where Father Ratigan was working sent a memo to the diocese raising alarm about the priest. The letter said that he had put a girl on his lap on a bus ride and encouraged children to reach into his pockets for candy, and that parents discovered girl's underwear in a planter outside his house. Bishop Finn has said he did not read the letter until a year later.
The prosecutor said the photographs discovered on Father Ratigan's laptop in December 2010 were "alarming photos," among them a series taken on a playground in which the photographer moves in closer until the final shots show girls' genitalia through their clothing. Confronted with the photographs, Father Ratigan tried to commit suicide, but survived and was briefly hospitalized.

If Finn remains at the helm of Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese the Vatican will essentially be telling the faithful that they care far more about high profile reactionary leaders, and little to nothing about the rest of us.




Display:
I would hope the Vatican will get the message, but something tells me that they may do nothing unless it causes a significant drop in donations. The other thing is that Finn might very well get kicked upstairs the way Bernie Above the Law did. It's interesting to see Bill Donohue has learned nothing and is amazingly consistent in both displaying his ignorance and exceeding his previous levels of crassness each time he opens his mouth or issues a media statement.

by khughes1963 on Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 12:44:28 PM EST

Bishop Finn waived a trial before a jury, and stipulated to all the facts as presented by the Kansas City attorney, before Judge Torrence in a bench trial. He was found guilty of failing to report child abuse to the authorities. He is criminally liable because of his legal obligation in Kansas City as a "mandated reporter", and because he was proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have known about child abuse and to have not reported it to the authorities. Mr. Donoghue would not be making excuses for a priest or other Catholic who was too liberal, saying that "Episcopalians and Lutherans are ordaining many more women, and a few here and there can't be helped!" or "Other countries where abortions and all healthcare are free have many fewer abortions--lets have universal healthcare with cheap contraception like them so that unborn babies can be saved!". His twisted logic and his trivializing of victimized little girls (how can those evil "homosexual priests" have caused this one?) show his really troubled inner life. God help us all.

by arachne646 on Mon Sep 10, 2012 at 02:00:58 PM EST

That's the only way to describe Donohue's behavior.

by Frank Cocozzelli on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 01:07:33 PM EST
Well, it's not the only way to describe such behavior, but I avoid putting in print the words I'm thinking.

by MLouise on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 02:26:12 PM EST
Parent

Hmmmmm ... let's see ...

My guess is "no." This sort of thing seems to matter a whole lot less to the hierarchy than someone's stand on gay marriage or the merest hint of a suggestion that they think maybe the church ought to at least discuss the possibility of women being ordained. Oh horrors!

BTW when was Donohue ever less than outrageous? What kind of an argument is it that since unspecified other people somewhere have been guilty of ... something or another ... it's "unfair" to condemn Finn?

by anastasia p on Sun Sep 09, 2012 at 09:07:44 PM EST
Parent



 I have nothing against religion, or the Church. But I want to see molesters prosecuted regardless of whether the perpetrator has a clerical collar or not. And denying there is a problem has allowed the abuses to continue for who knows how many years. Centuries, maybe. As for Donohue, that guy is an embarrassment.

by CautionIndicated on Tue Sep 11, 2012 at 07:08:29 PM EST

A contract is a formal declaration that spells out the commitments made by two or more parties to carry out specific obligations. It is, to put eSignature for Contracts a legal exchange of promises. The agreement is deemed to have been broken if one of the signers fails to make the required delivery.

by Josiah on Mon Oct 31, 2022 at 11:35:39 AM EST

This article provides a detailed account of Bishop Finn's conviction for failing to report suspected child abuse. It raises important questions about his future role in leading the Catholic Church and calls for accountability within the Church.  Operation Lone Star The author highlights the disturbing actions of Father Ratigan and criticizes those who downplay the severity of the crimes. The Vatican's response to this case will be crucial in determining its commitment to addressing child abuse within the Church.

by isabelladom on Mon Jun 19, 2023 at 11:15:53 AM EST


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